Dominican Republic

Once past the sixth grade, two tracks are established for continuing students: the academic track that continues on through the twelfth grade with academic studies for those students who wish to pursue a university education, and the technical-professional tracks, for those who wish to enter any of the technical schools. Actual differentiation into tracks occurs at entry into secondary level at tenth grade. The simplest degree is that of the tecnico basico, wherein the student is prepared just one year past basic schooling. The two- and three-year technical track schools are mainly for business training (for the bachillerato commercial certification), agricultural training (for the Perito agronomo, or 13th grade agricultural diploma), and industrial training certifications. These schools offer a curriculum distribution of 30 percent academic subjects and 70 percent specialized subjects. Individuals in the technical-professional track number 62,286.

Participation in secondary education can still be characterized as weak. For each 1,000 students that enter first grade, only 219 enter ninth grade. Of those, 62 percent of secondary students complete their studies and receive their certification. There was a total of 432,793 students in secondary level in 2000, showing an increase of almost 100 percent from the 1993 total of 232,383 students. This makes it the fastest growing sector of the education system, compared to preschool (48.6 percent growth) and elementary school (24 percent). Eighty-one percent of all secondary students are in public schools, compared to 62 percent of preschool students and 87 percent of elementary school students.

The projected unit cost per secondary student was estimated at US$177 for the academic tracks and US$360 for the technical-professional tracks, as of 2001. The total number of secondary school teachers stands at 13,698, approximately 59 percent of whom work in the public school system. This yields a student-teacher ratio of 43:1 in public schools and 51:1 in private schools.

Updates to the curriculum include an increased emphasis on literature, art and music, and computer science, as well as stronger programs in math and science, adding approximately 15 more teaching hours per week. Problems in secondary education include over-age students (over one-fourth of students are more than 19 years old), overcrowding, and the dropout rate.